The Nigerian Ports Authority has given the management of BUA Group the go-ahead to open its $400m Ports and Terminal facility in Port Harcourt after shelving the seven-month-long dispute between the two parties.

The company, in a statement on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2020 disclosed that it was re-opening the port terminal immediately for operations.

The management of BUA said that it received an official directive from the ports authority and all parties had been advised to respect the conditions in the concession agreement of the facility.

BUA reiterated its commitment to the project, saying it had put in place structures to develop a best-in-class terminal at the Rivers port to serve not only users of the port but also the recently constructed $400m food manufacturing complex adjacent to the terminal.

The statement said,

We are pleased to inform our stakeholders and the public that we have received official communication to that effect on the notice of termination issued by the Nigerian Port Authority sometimes last year against our River Ports-based BUA Ports and Terminal to be withdrawn forthwith.

The ongoing arbitration at the London Court of International Arbitration be discontinued and BUA terminals be re-opened immediately for operations.

This decision is in line with our earlier and consistent stand that all parties respect the content and the spirit of the concession agreement of the facility.

We also want to thank unequivocally – our dear customers, employees, dockworkers, and other stakeholders for your patience, support, and keeping faith with us throughout this period.

BUA said it remained a law-abiding corporate citizen and was looking forward to working with the management of NPA in resolving any outstanding issues and making Eastern ports one of the best in the country.

The company emphasised that it was looking forward to kick-starting operations at its terminals to once again provide the excellent services that had become its trademark.

Earlier last year, the management had described the stoppage of the commissioning of BUA Ports and Terminal, Port Harcourt, Rivers State as a threat to the Federal Government’s policy of ease of doing business in the country, following the NPA’s stance on the commissioning of the ports terminal.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.